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human attention, as much as any dog is. Now
that we'd provided it, I suddenly felt guilty for
taking it away.
e fox-farm experiment is, of course, just
that: a scienti c experiment. For decades the
project has been forced to manage their popu-
lation by selling o to real fur farms those foxes
not friendly or aggressive enough to be research
candidates. For the scientists, deciding which
ones stay and which ones go is a harrowing
process; Trut says she has long since passed on
the job to others and stays away from the farm
during selection time. "It is very di cult emo-
tionally," she told me.
In recent years the institute has been work-
ing to obtain permits to sell the surplus tame
foxes as pets, both domestically and in other
countries. It would be a way not just to nd a
better home for the unwanted foxes, they sug-
gest, but also to raise money for the research
to continue. " e situation today is we are just
doing our best to preserve our population," Trut
says. "We do some genetic work with our part-
ners in America. But this experiment has many
more questions to resolve."
As for Mavrik, Luda Mekertycheva was so
enthralled by the chestnut-colored fox and an-
other playmate that she decided to adopt them.
ey arrived at her dacha outside of Moscow a
few months later, and not long a er, she emailed
me an update. "Mavrik and Peter jump on my
back when I kneel to give them food, sit when I
pet them, and take vitamins from my hand," she
wrote. "I love them a lot." j